a thousand stitches joined together

Pattern - Gossamer scarf, Interweave, Summer 2008

Designer - Kat Coyle

Yarn - Urban Silk in a soft dove grey

Modifications - I did 4 1/2 repeats instead of 3 1/2 - it gets cold in Calgary

Amidst all the chaos of my everyday life I have finished a piece of knitting. Somehow the stitches just came together and when I looked up there was a wonderful, silk scarf. The scarf was designed by talented Kat Coyle. She is probably one of my most favorite knitters, artists, people...I love reading her blog.

It felt good knitting this scarf - the back and forth of the piece, the enjoyable pattern - such a great distraction from worrisome economies, panicked investors, and frustrating questions. I loved that feeling of just losing myself in the moment of my clicking needles - knitting became a simple movement to a soundless beat. It felt like moving to one of those electronic trance pieces, simply swaying from side to side to a musical drone, brain on neutral, every now and then mindlessly agreeing to something the Babe said...but, honestly - not really hearing the words. Life is like my scarf sometimes - a thousand stitches joined together to form a whole - a beautiful whole.

I received a lovely surprise in the mail this week. I won a give-away from lovely Jane. It was such a wonderful gift - and what a gift! Chocolate, a little handmade needle book, the pincushion featured below, a wonderful thimble, ribbons, needles - it just went on and on. Of course the Babe scarfed down the chocolate before I could take a picture. Thank you so much Jane. This is so sweet and really brightened up my week.

when atlas shrugged

We interupt our regularly scheduled post to bring you life through rose colored glasses.

I don't know if any of you have read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged - if you have, you will understand me when I say that this week I felt that globe move on Atlas's big shoulders. I work in a job that is directly tied to the financial markets and all I can say is thank goodness this week is over. I read five newspapers each morning to familiarize myself with daily news on economies around the globe - let me just say that I am tired and overwhelmed and somewhat depressed. I have fielded hundreds of calls from anxious investors and feel like I could take up a new career in counseling :)

So, to celebrate the end of the week and to slow things down a bit I have decided to soften the pictures this week and let things be 'diffused' a little bit. Sometimes seeing life through rose colored glasses is a great thing. My garden is starting to settle into fall but there are still some wonderful blooms to provide me with beautiful material for this post.


My favorite reading spot where I never read a newspaper, rather I browse through picture books and magazines that fill me with inspiration.

...and, I am blessed with wonderful treats from lands far away courtesy of my swap pal Beth. She made me this scrumptious basket bag where all my most coveted silk yarn is now stored. She included a beautiful piece of fabric that will be featured in another post and an awesome, handmade cuff bracelet that pretty much never leaves my wrist and is being worn while I shoot these pictures.

This has been a great distraction...we return next week with our regularly scheduled programming.

the gnome is tired so the socks will travel

Remember the movie Amelie? I hope so - if not, then rent it because it is a sensory feast for the eyes. Remember the traveling gnome in the movie...apparently garden ornaments travel - well my gnome is tired and has decided to stay home for the winter, instead I have a pair of very colorful socks that will make their way to Australia to spend the rest of their days with the lovely Beth.

I can't blame the gnome for wanting to hide under a plant in my garden. Traveling is fun but for me, there is something pleasant about being home, getting back into routine, and doing the things required to make life hum to a tune I like. I am back at work, back to training for a running race, and picking up my dormant knitting projects.

I remember an old boss, very mean man, yelling at us in a morning meeting to 'get with the program people'. September, rather than January, is that time when I generally 'get with the program' although, I certainly don't yell at myself. I heard a speaker at my conference last week and he asked us if we had a dream - of course most people had a dream. It's what he said next that caught my attention - he said that to make a dream come true you must make it a goal and then the most important thing is not necessarily achieving that goal, but rather the journey to reach it. That little piece of wisdom sums up September for me - it will become my September manifesto.

See the beautiful note card in the photo above? I won a set of those from cloth.paper.string. They are too beautiful to part with...so I will write one goal and the road map to reach it inside a card, frame it, and then next September assess my location on the map.

something different

Everyone has a place that calms their soul. When things get too stressful, when I get that feeling in my chest where tightness sets in and I can't take a full cleansing breath, when my city becomes so preoccupied with the price of oil and the rise and fall of the stock market so that it occupies my every moment and thought, I know it is time to go somewhere where all these things seem to disappear and become just slight annoyances somewhere in the recesses of my mind. Vancouver Island in British Columbia, where my parents live, is one of the most beautiful places I know. Maybe it's the blue of the water lapping noisily against the shore or finding the only white pebble amongst thousands of brown ones,

Or, it's the amazing array of gorgeous hydrangeas that dot my mom's garden,

Or the scented lavender in my parent's neighbour's garden


Or the hippie houses surrounded by snowball bushes and white geese running away from my lens,

Or my favorite girlfriend's window sill that never changes except for the selection of flowers that grace her little blue vase until they go through all the stages of their bloom.

As soon as I set foot on the Island and I smell that salty, humid air, I feel like I am on a different planet and the hum of life changes instantly.

I am very late on reading every one's blogs and leaving my comments and enjoying catching up on every one's week...but, this was so good. I am on the Island for another 4 days attending a conference...so it's work...but I am staying in a wonderful old hotel in Victoria, in front of a beautiful old harbour, so life is really good.